Opium War

Two parts: The First Opium War (1839 – 1842) and the Second Opium War (1856 – 1860)

Background:

• Great Britain was facing a huge trade deficit with China. They traded Chinese products like tea, silk, and porcelain in exchange for silver and gold.
• China was pretty self-sufficient so they didn’t need much from Great Britain, which gave them the upper hand when trading.
• China had a tightly controlled system of trade that made it difficult for Europeans.
• Britain found a product that could give them more profit in the Chinese market and that was opium.

Opium:

• Opium was grown in India, which at the time was controlled by Britain.
• Because it was a powerful narcotic, the Chinese started getting addicted to it. It had already been banned by the 18th century.
• The British knew how dangerous it was though; they had made it illegal in Great Britain, but continued supplying it to China.
• Silver flowed out of the Chinese economy in exchange for opium, which affected the economy. Also, the government was worried about the effects of opium smoking on officials and soldiers.
• In the 1830s, a debate took place over whether it would be better regulating opium or prohibiting it. Prohibition won, and Lin Zexu was sent to Guangzhou to end the trade.
• Lin Zexu – appointed by emperor as imperial commissioner for frontier defense.
• Lin Zexu destroyed the British opium at Canton and demanded that foreign merchants pledge not to import opium again. The British took these actions to be means for war.

End:

• Great Britain easily defeated China seeing as how they were far more advanced and had more modern weapons.
• Britain forced China to sign The Treaty of Nanjing (1842).
  • Britain gained a huge payment for their losses in the war. They also gained Hong Kong.
  • China had to open five ports to foreign trade and grant British citizens in China extraterritoriality (the right to live under their own laws).
  • Ending of trading tariffs imposed on the British.

The Second Opium War (1856–1858) resulted in the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin which further opened China to foreign penetration. The opium trade continued and grew, and its effects eventually lead to the Taiping Rebellion.